Railway brake mechanism



Fb. 10, 1931. GREGG 1,791,670

RAILWAY BRAKE MECHANISM Filed May 12, 1927 E l:l INVENTOR F Lou/s 0-6::

v BY v Patented Feb. '10, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT] OFFICE LOUIS D. GREGG, OF HACKENSACK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE GREGG COMPANY,

.1331) OF HACKENSAGK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK RAILWAY BRAKE MECHANISM Application filed m 12, 1927. serial No. 190,733.

This invention relates to improvements in piake mechanism for railway cars and the It is an object of this invention to provide an improved device of the class described which will equalize the applied pressure to the respective brake shoes of the railway car wheels when the brake applying levers are operated. It is afurther object of this invention to provide a brake equalizer for railway, ve-

hicles that will be more eflicient in use, more rugged in construction, and less expensive in cost of manufacture. It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved brake rigging for railway cars of the single truck type in which the brake parts are entirely out of the way of any obstruction that may come on the tracks.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide .an. equalized brake rigging in WlllCll the connecting link between the brake v beams is entirely above the center of the wheel axles.

It is another object of this invention to provide a brake rigging that will equalize the pressure between the various wheels and be operated b a single arm operating handle extending rom either side of the car.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the following detailed description of one form of embodiment exemplifying my invention and, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a part of the true Y Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the car truck and Fig. 3 is a detail of the brake riggin In certain industries, such as that 0 sugar owing, small cars which are frequently and-operated, are used and it- 1s necessary that they be e uipped with suitable, efiicient and economica brakes of such rugged construction that the will withstand hard service conditions an further, they must be of such character than one man-may be able to obtain the maximum braking power possibly obtainable, and the parts should be as high as possible above the track to revent damage from obstructions on the trac in derailment,"

which are frequent when the cars are used on portable. or temporary tracks;

The brake riggin shown therefore has been found to be of this character and is' applied to a cane or other small car 10 equipped with wheels 11 which are to be braked by brake shoes 12 at the ends of respective brake beams 13, running transversel of the car and suspended from the car by pivoted links 27.

As shown in Fig. 1, the dead lever 14 is pivotally attached at its top to the dead brake lever bracket 15 and at the bottom by means of the adjustable clevis 16 shown in Fig. 3, to the rear brake beam 13.

. Intermediate of these two points of attachment,.a connecting link 17 is also pivotally attached to the dead lever 14 and continues forwardly above the car wheel axles to the floating equalizing lever 18, which, at the lower end, is similarly fastened to the forward brake beam 13 in the same manner as the (lead lever was attached to its beam.

The floating equalizing lever 18 is slidably supported on an angle-shaped bracket 19 byv means of a roller bearing 20, placed between the sides 18 and 18a of the live lever, which will allow certain slight movement without undue friction.

The uppermost'end of the live lever is connected to a bell crank 21 through the intermediate horizontal link 22, and a link 23 from the other arm of the bellcrank which is centrally-pivoted to the frame of the car at 21a extends upwardly to an operating handle 24, pivoted to the car at 25, and whose extremities extend outwardly beyond the sides of the-car.

The operating arm 24 has an angular detent 24a thereon-cooperating-with a notched bracket 26 on the car end so that the bracket may retain the operating handle 24 in any; desired position and thus maintain any degree of braking power desired.

The operation of this device is as follows: The operator, desiring tov apply the brakes, will grasp either end of the handle 24, dependlng'upon the side of the car thathe is stationed, and by forcing downwardly ifon the detent side or upwardly on the other side, he will exert an upward force on the link 23,

16 and to the slight resiliency in the angular brake beams 13.

It will be obvious from the above description that inasmuch as-the brake beams are of angular construction and, as the live and dead levers are supported intermediate of the car frame, but one connecting link is necessary, which,being above the car axles, is not subject to accident from obstacles on the track, and due to the floating lever 18, a very simple, ru ged'and efficient equalizing means is provi ed which may be manufac tured at a small cost.

While Ihaveiillustrated one form of embodiment of the device, I am aware that other modifications within the spirit of this invention, maybe made and I, therefore, desire protection on the broad interpretation of the spirit and scope of this application and of the appended claims- I What I claim as my invention'is:

1. In a brake mechanism of the class described, the combination of brake levers suspended from a car frame, brake beams attached to the end of said levers and respective brake shoes, one of said brake levers being connected at its top to an actuating link, and

being connectedinsubstantially its center to a connecting link operating the other brake lever, and intermediate of these two positions suspended from the car frame for pivotal and limited longitudinal movement. I

2. In combination with a railway car and its wheels of the class described, brake rigging comprising a, brake lever pivoted to the car frame and attached to a brake beam and its respective brake shoes, a second brake lever also attached to a brake beam having brake shoes, the second lever being laterally and pivotally movable relative to the i car frame, a single link connecting said levers midway between the ends thereof for simultaneous movement, and an operating arm actuating said brake shoes adapted to be positively positioned in any desired place.

3. In combination with a railway car and its wheels of the class described, brake rigging comprising a brake lever pivoted to the car frame and attached to a brake beam having two brake shoes, a second brake lever also attached to a brake beam having two' brake shoes, the second lever being laterally and pivotally movable relative to the car frame, a single linklconnectin said levers between the endsthereofand a ve the car axles for simultaneous movement, and an operating arm actuating said brake shoes adapted to be positively positioned in any desired place;

4. In a. brake mechanism of the class described, the combination of a double bar floating lever slidably and pivotally supported from the frame of a. railway car, and having its. lower extremity secured to a brake beam. with suitable shoes attached; and a supplementary brake lever pivotally connected to the car frame and to the first lever by means of a rigid connecting rod; a brake beam and shoes attached to said supplementary rod, and control means to manipulate the whole by a suitable governing lever controlled from either side of the car.

5. In a brake mechanism for a car frame,

live and dead brake levers suspended from the frame, one of said levers having a movable pivot on the frame by which it is suspended, brake beams attached to the ends of the respective brake levers, brake shoes supported by the end of the brake beams and link.

6. In a brake mechanism for railway'cars,

the combination with a car frame having wheels thereon, of live and dead brake levers suspended from the car frame, one of said levers being suspended from the frame by a slidable pivot, brake beams attached to the ends of the brake levers, brake shoes supported by the beams, said brake levers being connected medially by means of a single link extending therebetween above the car axles, the other lever being secured to the car frame by the fixed pivot and a double arm operat ing handle for actuating the brakes connected to the live lever. I

- In. testimon whereof I have afiixed my signature to t is specification.

' LOUIS D. GREGG. 

